The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Mario Bros. | Mushroom Kingdom | Dark Lands | Everyone Else
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Mushroom Kingdom
General
- Bright Castle: True to the games, Peach's castle is very brightly colored with the most prominent feature being a stained-glass image of Peach.
- Easily Conquered World: The Mushroom Kingdom is implied to be one. Aside from the guards' decorative halberds, there are no civil defenses, police, or standing armies of any sort anywhere. When the leaders are informed of Bowser's threat, their immediate response is to petition the Jungle Kingdom for aid. And when Bowser's flying castle finally arrives, the only action available is to evacuate the city (even the royal guards lay down their arms and flee, presumably on Peach's orders). It's further implied that Toad himself is the only Toad in the whole kingdom willing to fight back, as Peach remarks this aspect alone is amazing and enough to merit him coming with her and Mario. Peach herself makes it clear that she sees the Toads as a people who need her protection and she has no expectations of them protecting her from Bowser.
- Fictional Currency: The traditional Coins from the games make an appearance. Toads are seen using Coin Blocks as makeshift automated teller machines.
- Floating Platforms: Floating platforms can be found everywhere in the Mushroom Kingdom, to the point of becoming Mundane Utility. Toads think nothing of trotting across a paved path hundreds of feet in mid-airnote , while Mario is (understandably) apprehensive about following suit.
- Green Hill Zone: The Mushroom Kingdom looks more like an adventure world than it does in the games, with giant mushrooms, floating islands, and Peach's castle on top of a mountain.
- No OSHA Compliance: Traversal through the Mushroom Kingdom is... perilous, to say the least. Mario and Toad make their way to the castle using small platforms with no rails, then have to jump to another platform, and then have to step on a series of small brick blocks over a chasm. Mario's nervousness throughout the entire ordeal is completely justified.
- Pipe Maze: The trek to Peach's castle shows Mario trying to follow Toad through an elaborate series of pipes leading up to Peach's Castle. Mario has trouble finding the right series of pipes that will take him up rather than deposit him back in the same spot, though the Toads can navigate them just fine.
- Scooby-Dooby Doors: A warp pipe variation. Mario tries to figure out how to use the pipes, only to pop out of ones right behind him or one just slightly above. It doesn't help when he sees there are a whole lot more pipes to go through, prompting him to complain, "Aw, come on!"
- Springy Spores: When Mario arrives in the Mushroom Kingdom, he bounces off a mushroom before landing on the ground.
- Waterfall into the Abyss: The Mushroom Kingdom has floating islands with waterfalls that suddenly end in mid-air.
- World of Badass: Mostly downplayed as the Toads aren't particularly shown to be strong in general, but platforming is practically a basic skill needed whenever you're in the Mushroom Kingdom. Toad's tour shows that things like jumping across moving platforms several stories above the ground is something that Toads calmly go through on a daily basis. Mario, on the other hand, is incredibly athletic by human standards yet still struggles with platforming for quite a while.
Princess Peach
Princess Peach
"I will not let him hurt you. Together, we are going to stop Bowser!"
Voiced by: Anya Taylor-Joy (adult), Jessica DiCicco (baby)Foreign VAs
"We have heart! And with your strength, we can win!"
The ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, and Mario's guide, mentor, and budding love interest.
- The Ace: Peach is incredibly skilled at both platforming and combat, having lived in the Mushroom Kingdom and being trained by the Toads for as long as she can remember. By her own admission, she aced the training gauntlet on her first try.
- Action Girl: Peach is a proactive hero rather than a damsel needing to be rescued and ventures across the world to form an alliance with the Kongs. She is a naturally skilled combatant, racer, and acrobat as shown by her clearing her training course perfectly, driving on a bike alongside Mario, Toad, and the Kongs on the rainbow road charging towards Bowser’s castle while kicking some Koopas about to attack her and saving Toad’s life when he’s about to fall to a watery tomb, and punching Kamek in the face, freezing Bowser in place with the Ice Flower Toad smuggled in for her, and beating the crap out of his troops all by herself while pretending to marry him and momentarily saves the lives of Luigi and the others from being dunked into lava by freezing the crank lowering them. She also lands a few hits on Bowser distracting him to save Mario from being killed after being teleported to New York.
- Actor Allusion: Her character poster has her assuming a pose similar to Beth Harmon in The Queen's Gambit.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Downplayed; she confesses to Mario that she ended up in the Mushroom Kingdom as a small child, and has no idea where she really came from. However, at the same time, she's happy that the Toads raised her.
- Adaptational Backstory Change: In the games, Peach has never been hinted at not being a native of the Mushroom Kingdom, despite looking much more humanoid than its other inhabitants, with Yoshi's Island DS strongly suggesting she was born there. Here, Peach is revealed to be a human/Ambiguously Human-person that came to the Mushroom Kingdom as a baby. Mario brings up the idea she may have come from Earth like him, but the film is ambiguous and Peach says she doesn't remember her original world.
- Adaptational Badass: While Peach definitely is capable of defending herself whenever she's playable in the games, and has a great deal of power that she channels in more extreme situations, typical Mario vs. Bowser stories tend to start with her capture. This time around, she's a lot more active and only goes with Bowser when he threatens Toad's life, immediately going back to opposing him when he announces his intention to sacrifice the kingdoms' denizens. In addition, the Ice Flower was never able to do anything to Bowser unlike in the movie.
- Adaptational Curves: It's subtle, but Peach has rounder, softer features here than she does in the games, particularly her head and face, likely to bring her proportions closer to Mario.
- Adaptational Hairstyle Change: Specifically for Fire Peach. In her original appearance, the Fire Flower not only changed the colors of her dress, but also automatically gave her a ponytail. While she wears it when biking like in the Mario Kart series, she stays with her standard hair in fire form.
- Adaptational Modesty: She wears leggings under her dress due to being more physically active, when most games featuring Peach as a playable character usually give her a Magic Skirt or Goofy Print Underwear (Super Smash Bros.) or have her wear either shorts or a miniskirt (various sports themed games).
- Adaptational Seriousness: Even in games where she's portrayed with more strength and competence, Peach is characterized as lighthearted, giggly and often a little ditzy. By contrast, the film depicts her as a much more serious and goal-oriented Warrior Princess, with her lighthearted moments mainly derived from her social awkwardness with meeting another human for the first time.
- Adaptation Expansion: Peach’s backstory is briefly touched upon: as a baby, she wandered into the Mushroom Kingdom through a Warp Pipe, and the Toads took her in and raised her themselves. Once she came of age, they deemed her worthy of becoming the princess of their kingdom, and the rest was history.
- Adaptation Personality Change: Goes together with her Xenafication. Peach in the games is a soft-spoken, kindhearted, feminine Girly Girl (with a tomboy streak) that, while usually a Damsel in Distress, could be brave and join the action when the situation required like in Super Princess Peach (where she's The Hero and saved the Bros. and the kingdom all by herself), Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario 3D World, Super Mario Run, Super Mario RPG, Super Paper Mario, and the Mario + Rabbids games; while her movie version is more of an outspoken, assertive Action Girl and, outfits shared with the games aside, also more of a tomboy than a girly girl. She does retain the kindness from her original game counterpart, albeit considerably toned down and portrayed in a different way.
- Affectionate Nickname: Not that she likes it, but Bowser lovingly calls her "Peaches" whenever he talks about or to her. She's also on the giving end, affectionately referring to Mario as "moustache", which Mario appreciates.
- Ambiguously Absent Parent: An Ambiguously Orphaned example. Due to Peach being a baby when she ended up in the Mushroom Kingdom, it is unknown if this means her biological parents are dead, if she was abandoned, or if she just wandered off and ended up in the Mushroom Kingdom by mistake.
- Ambiguously Human: Downplayed; she’s referred to as a human and when she first meets Mario, she’s excited to finally meet another human after having spent as long as she can remember being the Token Human of the Mushroom Kingdom. However, she is taller and rather differently-proportioned than most of the other humans in Brooklyn, even without her high heels, and she still has her Float ability from the games even without the power-ups. When Mario suggests that she came from his world after she tells him her backstory, she replies that the universe is huge and that there’s hundreds of worlds out there. This, combined with the fact that she doesn’t remember anything about where she came from since she was a baby when she came to the Mushroom Kingdom, leaves it unclear if she came from Earth, another world populated with humans, or is actually some other being from an alien world that merely looks human.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: It's implied the Toads made her their princess because, being a human among Toads, she's the only person among them actually capable of fighting.
- Attack Backfire: While fighting Bowser's minions, Peach lights King Bob-omb's fuse. The explosion ends up hitting her and taking away her power-up.
- Badass Biker: She's seen driving her Mach Bike from Mario Kart during the Rainbow Road part of the movie, looking awesome while doing it.
- Bad Liar: When she tries to cheer Mario up after he only almost finished the training course despite practicing the entire night, she says that she didn't get it right the first time either. Mario, having already seen her in action, doesn't buy it for a second.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Peach is as protective of the Toads as she is because when she accidentally wandered into the Mushroom Kingdom as an infant, the Toads took her in, raised her as one of their own, and even crowned her their princess once she came of age.
- Benevolent Boss: In contrast to Bowser, Peach is much more kind and loyal to her subjects, making sure they escape before Bowser arrives. She's forced to surrender after he implicitly threatens their lives through Toad, and even then she still works to sabotage the wedding (and succeeds).
- Better with Non-Human Company: She's a universally-loved and dignified authority figure to her Toads, but her one-on-one interactions with Mario are rather scatterbrained at the start, indicative of her lack of familiarity with other humans.
- Big Good: She plays an active role in taking the fight to Bowser compared to most of the Mario games and acts as a mentor (and love interest) of sorts to Mario.
- Birds of a Feather: Peach and Mario develop a subtle romantic spark for one another due to being humans who accidentally wound up in the Mushroom Kingdom via a warp pipe in the edge of a cliff and who chose to stay in the Mushroom Kingdom. Also, both are caring individuals, and both want to stop Bowser and protect their families. Plus both are Fish out of Water to each other's respective worlds; Mario initially finds himself out of his depth in the Mushroom Kingdom, while Peach is surprised to learn that people in Mario's world don't drive on rainbows and that turtles are usually pets and not evil warlords.
- Bring It: Her reaction to Bowser showing her the Super Star he stole (not knowing it’s being used for a proposal to her), complete with her aiming her halberd at him.Peach: If you're going to use it, use it now!
- Canon Foreigner: Ice Peach. The Ice Flower has only appeared in spin-offs and the New Super Mario Bros. subseries, none of which had a playable Peach in them. On top of that, she activated the form in a wedding dress, when the only platformers with a playable Peach in them have her in her usual gown.
- Combat Stilettos: Her run of the training course is done in her usual gown and high heels. She actually hits a Bowser-shaped target heels-first.
- Contralto of Strength: Peach's voice is notably deeper than in the games, perhaps due to what sounds like Taylor-Joy using her natural speaking voice, and she leads her kingdom against Bowser's forces.
- Composite Character: Her backstory as an orphaned Ambiguously Human girl who was found, adopted by and eventually made the leader of a race of Ridiculously Cute Critters is similar to Rosalina from Super Mario Galaxy.
- Damsel out of Distress: At the movie's climax, she does end up in Bowser's custody, but she manages to get herself out of marrying him by using an Ice Flower that Toad hid in her bouquet. She then proceeds to take on Bowser's army until Mario and Donkey Kong arrive.
- Deadpan Snarker: She has her moments, particularly when first meeting Mario and trying to help him train and overcoming his hatred of mushrooms.
- Deus Exit Machina: Due to living in the Mushroom Kingdom much longer than Mario, she’s much more competent at navigating the world and fighting. In the climax, she uses an Ice Flower to wreck her own wedding and prevent Luigi and the other prisoners from being lowered into the lava. Unfortunately, King Bob-omb blowing up causes her to lose her power. When the battle moves from the Mushroom Kingdom to Earth, she does get a few good hits in against Bowser but is quickly subdued by his soldiers. It’s ultimately Mario and Luigi who get the Super Star power-up and beat Bowser into submission. But Peach does ensure that the Koopa King is neutralised and imprisoned thanks to a Mini Mushroom.
- Deuteragonist: While Mario is the main protagonist of the movie, it’s almost as much about Peach as it is about Mario. She holds importance to the story as she is at war with Bowser and the crux of the journey revolves around her recruiting the Kongs to help her defeat Bowser and bringing peace to the world. Her developing relationship with Mario also gets a bit of focus too, in that she helps Mario overcome his shortcomings to rescue his brother and become the hero we all know and love, as well as showing a budding romantic interest in him. Technically speaking, she is the one to deal the final blow to Bowser as she force feeds him the Mini Shroom while he is seriously beaten up by Mario and Luigi and subsequently imprisoned.
- Didn't Think This Through: She stops her own wedding by using a smuggled Ice Flower to freeze Bowser and the winch that’s lowering the prisoners into the lava. Then it goes downhill when she sets a spear on fire to light the fuse on King Bob-omb's head. True, the explosion would take out the soldiers, but it also causes her to lose her power, just as the winch unfreezes. If Mario and DK hadn't arrived, Luigi and the other prisoners would have died.
- Disneyesque: Just look at her. She looks significantly more like a Disney Princess than her video game portrayals.
- Dub Personality Change: In the "Super Japanese version" Peach is made even feistier and less formal than the English version.
- Elective Monarchy: Princess Peach appears to be the sole monarch of all the Toads, but we later learn that her position isn't hereditary, but was the Toads' own choice, as they adopted Peach when she was still an infant and raised her as one of their own. Once she came of age, they decided to crown her as their princess and leader.
- Foil:
- Is one to Donkey Kong. Both are beloved royalty within their own kingdom whose relationships to Mario evolve over the course of the film. She starts off as a skeptical mentor to Mario but grows into his biggest supporter and a potential love interest by the end of the film. DK starts off as an equally skeptical rival whose resentment of Mario's success slowly turns into a friendly rivalry. Peach proactively seeks to unite and inspire others to defeat Bowser, while DK simply enjoys showboating to his adoring followers and only gets cajoled into helping when his dad tells him to. As warriors, Peach relies on skill and proficiency with power-ups, while DK prefers to rely on raw strength and Kong Technology. Finally, she's a Pretty Princess Powerhouse whose dainty aesthetic belies a firm commitment, while DK is a hyper-masculine gorilla whose obnoxious behavior masks a deep insecurity.
- Is also one to Bowser. Both are rulers of their own kingdom who hold certain feelings towards Mario and say "You just don't know when to quit" in a certain way. While Peach is a Benevolent Boss to her subjects, Bowser is a Bad Boss to his subjects. Peach grows to like Mario over the course of the film while Bowser grows to hate Mario over the course of the film. When Peach remarks on Mario's determination, she sees it as a great trait to have and encourages him to see it that way, whereas when Bowser remarks on Mario's determination, he, in typical Entitled Bastard fashion, throws an angry temper tantrum about it, showing how he hates how Mario doesn't give up.
- Fish out of Water: Downplayed and Justified since she's lived for most of her life in the Mushroom Kingdom since she was an infant, but she's surprised to learn from Mario that in the human world, turtles aren't as huge and dangerous as Bowser and can be adopted as pets.
- Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: Peach has a tougher and more goal-oriented attitude than the games generally present her, but her sparkly pink regalia and castle are lifted straight from them all the same.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Peach has glossy blonde hair and is a very open-hearted and loyal figure.
- Happily Adopted: Happy to have been raised by the entire Toad species after finding her way to the Mushroom Kingdom when she was a baby. This is what motivates her to defend their kingdom at all costs without conscripting a single Toad.
- Hartman Hips: Like in the games, Peach's hips are wider than her shoulders, but it's more noticeable in her biker outfit.
- Head Desk: At one point during the Training Montage, Peach drops her face in disbelief after seeing Mario fail the obstacle course (again).
- Head-Turning Beauty: She's very attractive, to the point where Mario briefly forgets his mission to save his brother the moment he lays eyes on her. Bowser likewise softens up considerably just thinking about her.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Peach, while fighting all the guests and mooks at her wedding ceremony, takes out a large number of them by lighting King Bob-omb's fuse, causing him to explode. Unfortunately, she herself is too close to him and gets caught in the blast radius too, such that she's slammed into the stairs and loses her Ice Flower power-up.
- Honorary Princess: She arrived as a baby in the Mushroom Kingdom and was raised by the Toads, who later crowned her as their princess.
- Humble Hero: Peach may be The Ace who makes others seem inferior to her by comparison, but she compensates for it by not being a braggart. When Mario feels inadequate to her and correctly guesses that she beat the obstacle course on her first try, she does everything she can to console Mario while trying not to draw attention to her accomplishments.
- An Ice Person: She has Toad smuggle an Ice Flower into the wedding via the bouquet, which she uses to turn into Ice Peach in order to fight back against Bowser and save the captives from execution.
- Implied Love Interest: Just like in the game continuity, she is this to Mario. By the end of the film, they developed a close bond with hints of a future romance between them, with some characters like Donkey Kong and Toad taking notice of their moments together, like their flirting. In fact, Bowser's hatred of Mario stems from his paranoia that the plumber seems to be winning Peach's heart whereas he fails.
- Innocently Insensitive: Makes quite a few remarks about Mario being small, not realizing about his Height Angst. These are not out of any malice, but both observing the first human she saw outside of the mirror and a warning of how powerful Bowser is.
- Instant Expert: She tries to insinuate that the obstacle course that gave Mario so much trouble also gave her trouble as well. Mario figures it out pretty quickly that she nailed it on her first try.
- Interspecies Adoption: Peach is Ambiguously Human and was found as a toddler by the Toad species. She was then lovingly raised by said species.
- I Surrender, Suckers: Peach is forced to surrender and marry Bowser when Kamek tortures Toad. However, she makes a surprise attack during the ceremony with an Ice Flower to make it clear she's not interested. The fact that Bowser was going to sacrifice his captives during the event didn't help his case.
- Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: Peach sprints through her obstacle course and jump kicks through a Bowser target without breaking a sweat, all while wearing her iconic royal dress and high heels. She later does the same in a wedding dress too.
- Large and in Charge: Peach is a downplayed example, being noticeably taller and more athletic than the Toads of the Mushroom Kingdom.
- Laugh of Love: Peach giggles quite a bit during some of her rather flirty exchanges with Mario.
- Male Gaze: Mario spends a lot of his time wowed by Peach's appearance. He even accidentally fails his final attempt at the obstacle course by taking his eyes off the course to show off for her, though this attempt is enough to impress Peach enough into letting him go on the adventure anyways. There's another subtle moment during the kart scene right before they jump to Rainbow Road, with a POV shot of Mario admiring the scenery as Peach revs up in front of him, giving him (and the audience) a brief view of her rear.
- The Mentor: To Mario. She's the one who properly introduces Mario to the new world, tells him about Power-Ups and how they work, and trains him in platforming and Combat Parkour.
- Ms. Fanservice: While not to the full extent of her game counterpart, she's still a beautiful young woman who's already lovely in the gown she wears, but also dons a form-fitting biker suit (with the addition of a helmet not present in the Mario Kart games) and a low-cut wedding dress at the climax. Deconstructed in that it's why Bowser is destroying kingdoms and sacrificing prisoners.
- Mundane Utility: Peach grabs a Fire Flower, magically transforming her, gaining powers, and donning a lovely white and red ensemble, just to light the campfire.
- Nice Girl: While shown to be more of a Xenafied monarch, Peach is still as kind, sweet, and gentle as her video game counterpart. She is even willing to wait for Mario to complete the training course and prove himself worthy to go to the Kong kingdom with her. Even after he ultimately fails (albeit with very impressive improvements), Peach takes Mario along with her, because not only is his determination more than enough to impress her, but she also knows what it's like to want to protect family from Bowser. It's telling that despite completing the exact same training in one shot, she reassures Mario there's no shame in failing repeatedly, even lying that she didn't get it right the first time just to make him feel better. Finally, she provides Mario with a lot of emotional support throughout the journey, even telling him that his determination is a great trait to have, something that Mario had been wanting to hear all of his life.
- No Sense of Personal Space: Meeting Mario, apparently the only other human she's ever met, makes her so excited she gets a little too grabby trying to figure him out.
- No Social Skills: Ironic for an otherwise-competent authority figure - she's demonstrably out of practice when it comes to socializing with other humans, getting right up in Mario's personal space as soon as she meets him, being a little too honest about his chances of rescuing Luigi from Bowser, and flubbing her attempts to sell him a white lie to help him feel better about his training (it still works). It's justified in that Mario is the first human she's seen outside of a mirror.
- Not So Above It All: Most of the time Peach carries herself with an air of dignity befitting her royal status. She does however have moments of awkwardness such as groping Mario's face, being unable to lie without overcompensating and in the trailer she struggles to prize a cheep-cheep off Mario's face without falling onto her behind.
- Offered the Crown: Peach's position as Princess isn't hereditary, as she accidentally wandered into the Mushroom Kingdom as an infant, but the Toads decided to adopt her and raise her as one of their own, and then once she came of age, they offered her the crown and chose her as their leader.
- One-Woman Army: Peach manages to hold off Bowser’s army with only an Ice Flower during the wedding fight. She loses the power after getting caught in an explosion from King Bob-omb, but it still buys enough time for Mario and Donkey Kong to show up.
- Parachute Petticoat: She's seen using a watered-down version of her Floating Jump ability from the games, floating down slowly using her dress when she completes the obstacle course. Notably, she never uses this during the course due to her being skilled enough without it.
- Playing with Fire: She turns into Fire Peach after touching a Fire Flower and tosses a fireball in order to light a campfire.
- Pretty Princess Powerhouse: She's more of an Action Girl compared to more traditional depictions of her, but she still retains her Princess Classic characterization of wearing puffy, pink dresses and having a kind and generous personality.
- Princesses Prefer Pink: She wears three different outfits over the course of the movie, all in various shades of pink. Two of them also include pink shoes.
- Promoted to Love Interest: Somewhat. According to an article by Hollywood Reporter
, she not only acts as Mario's mentor and guide, but also his love interest. Indeed, because her personality is a bit more expanded upon in a dialogue-heavy medium, Peach has a bit more romantic chemistry with Mario in the movie than in the games. - Raised by Natives: She explains to Mario that as a baby, she wandered through a warp pipe and was found by the Toads. The Toads raised her as one of their own and would later crown her as their leader.
- Raised by the Community: After winding up in the Mushroom Kingdom from an unknown other world as a baby, she was raised by the entire Toad species, who eventually decided to make her their princess.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: In stark contrast to Bowser, she's presented as an ideal ruler who loves and protects her subjects at all costs, even going toe-to-toe against their enemies personally. While she happily joins Mario once it's clear they have a common goal, she still makes sure to test his aptitude first so it won't cost her any time she may need to protect her kingdom.
- Reconstruction: The film goes to lengths to explain why Peach is the leader of the Mushroom Kingdom and what that role entails. Peach isn't from the Mushroom Kingdom and was raised and trained by the Toads her entire life. This not only means that they hold a great deal of love and respect for her and her for them, but she's familiar with the kingdom's culture and environs. It's all but outright stated that she's had to fight Bowser's forces in the past and may even have faced Bowser himself, and aside from her bravery, the main reason she's done so well at it is because she has a much greater physical stature than the Toads and is more adept in combat. This translates to her role as Princess meaning more than just running the kingdom; she has to be ready to regularly defend her people by any means necessary, be it by political alliances or through force, and she's the best person for the job the Toads have.
- Reimagining the Artifact: Princess Peach is made an Adaptational Badass who actually fights alongside Mario to protect her kingdom, after decades of usually being the designated Damsel in Distress for Mario and co. to rescue (despite shades of Badass Bystander, since she's had playable roles since the second game, as well as a Swapped Roles spin-off). Her status as the Token Human of the Mushroom Kingdom is actually (partially) explained as well, with her finding her way there as a baby and being adopted by the Toads before ultimately being made their princess and ruler.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: She leads her kingdom against Bowser, making a point of not letting any of the Toads fight on her behalf, save for the traveller Toad who makes it clear he's tagging along whether she likes it or not.
- Ship Tease: With Mario, like in the games. They are repeatedly shown to enjoy each other's company, and some of their dialogue to each other border on the flirty side. Plus, she gets very excited when asking Mario about his world and when he becomes a true hero. It was because of this that Bowser explicitly saw Mario as a rival for her affections.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Even though it's left up in the air by the end of the film, Peach noticeably becomes closer to Mario because of his determination, kindness, and slowly becoming more and more invested in helping save her kingdom.
- The Smurfette Principle: Downplayed example, since while she isn't the only female character in the movie per se, she's the only one among the main cast as well as the only one with an impact on the plot; every other female character is either a bit character or a background extra with no ties to the plot whatsoever.
- So Beautiful, It's a Curse: The whole reason Bowser decimated the Ice Kingdom and took their Super Star was part of a scheme to woo Peach. This means the Toads came dangerously close to sealing the fate when they adopted her.
- Supporting Leader: Peach leads the resistance against Bowser and trains Mario to be her sidekick, but ultimately she's forced to surrender to protect her kingdom. While she and Toad come up with a backup plan to fight back and prevent her forced marriage to Bowser, it’s ultimately up to Mario to be The Hero.
- Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Like in the games, she towers over Mario. And it's not exclusively due to her high heels.
- Token Human: Peach's status as a human ruling over a non-human species is pointed out as odd In-Universe. Her main reason for taking an interest in Mario is seeing another human for the first time in her life. A flashback reveals she came to the Mushroom Kingdom as a baby, but she doesn't know if it was from the same world as him or an entirely different one. She also doesn't know anything about the culture of human-dominant worlds.
- True Blue Femininity: Peach's wedding dress turns blue when she uses an ice flower.
- Vocal Dissonance: Her voice is unusually deep and husky in contrast to her wide-eyed girlish appearance.
- Warrior Princess: Not just a warrior, but a proper One-Woman Army for her beloved Toad subjects.
- Women Are Wiser: Peach teaches Mario the ropes and is overall more adept in combat compared to any other character, being even more refined than Donkey Kong. While she attributes this to growing up in the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario deduces that she's a natural prodigy.
- Xenafication: Peach is traditionally the feminine Damsel in Distress of the franchise, though she can hold her own against enemies and join the action when the situation required it as well as rival sports competitors depending on the game. In the movie, the capable fighter side of her personality is more greatly pronounced, and she goes on the journey to defeat Bowser alongside Mario and Toad, making the three a Token Trio, while Luigi takes the role of a Distressed Dude.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: When Mario starts failing at all the training stages, Peach sighs in exasperation and plants her face into the railing of her castle balcony.
Toad
Toad
"'Come on, Mario! Our big adventure begins now!"
Voiced by: Keegan-Michael KeyForeign VAs
"Just pop in this pipe and we're on our way!"
An explorer Toad who introduces Mario to the Mushroom Kingdom.
- Butt-Monkey: He has some brief moments of slapstick in the third act. After Mario rescues Luigi, and is introducing him to Peach, Toad trips and falls while running to meet them. Then, after Mario and Luigi get the Super Star and stomp on Bowser hard enough to create a fortress-destroying shockwave, Toad is sent tumbling head-over-heels backwards whilst Peach and DK shield their eyes.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Toad very much operates on his own wavelength, being boisterous and impulsive to no end, all with a chipper, starry-eyed can-do attitude that at times comes across as oblivious to things around him.note He does so with such nonchalance that it seems like he has a few screws loose. Although, he is shown to be fully capable of taking things seriously when the time really calls for it and is capable of understanding the gravity of a very serious situation.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Much like in the games, this Toad is the only one whose blue vest doesn't match his red mushroom cap, unlike all the other Toads in the Mushroom Kingdom.
- Composite Character: Toad here is a combination of the default character as well as Captain Toad, demonstrated from his adventurous nature as well as the huge travel pack he carries on his back at all times. Further demonstrating the intent, the Captain Toad Leitmotif cues in during Toad's first introduction upon meeting Mario.
- Cool Shades: He wears a pair of gold-rimmed aviator sunglasses when he rolls up in his oversized cart, trying extra hard to look chilled out.
- Declaration of Protection: Towards Peach (and Mario) at the beginning of their adventure. He doubles down on it towards the climax as Bowser's forces are approaching the now-evacuated Mushroom Kingdom, bravely following Peach as she's about to face the Koopa King.
- Delicious Distraction: In order to distract the front door guards at Peach's Castle so Mario can sneak inside, Toad sets up a mini cook-out and gives the guards some cooked vegetables.
- A Dog Named "Dog": Toad shares the same name as his species.
- Don't Touch It, You Idiot!: Toad hysterically warns Mario from getting too close to a blue mushroom, only to remember that blue mushrooms aren't lethal and hugs it as proof.
- Dub Personality Change: In the "Super Japanese version" Toad is excessively polite to everyone he meets.
- Fearless Fool: He's noted as being a rare brave Toad but it crosses over into foolishness at times, like when the gang is being taken on a wild kart ride to see Cranky Kong, Toad's having the time of his life even as he's nearly flung out the kart several times, all while Mario and the otherwise unflappable Peach are screaming in terror.
- Foil: To Luigi. Both act as sidekicks, but while Luigi is a cautious Only Sane Man that's taller than Mario and wears green, Toad is a fearless Keet that's shorter than Mario with red spots on his cap.
- Frying Pan of Doom:
- Subverted early on where it looks like he's going to beat the tar out of the castle guards with one but it turns out he's going to distract them by cooking for them so Mario can sneak in.
- Toad wields one when he and Peach try to confront Bowser themselves.
- Hidden Depths:
- Toad appears to be surprisingly good at cooking, much like the Chef Toad character.
- As shown during the field of Fire Flowers scene, he knows how to play the flute.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: Toad does this accidentally when Mario first arrives. Mario finds himself in a forest of huge mushrooms and cautiously approaches a blue one on the ground. Then another "mushroom" behind the blue one — actually Toad kneeling on the ground — yells out Don't Touch It, You Idiot!, which leaves Mario very startled.
- I Just Want to Be Badass: Toad wants to prove himself as a capable adventurer and ally to both Princess Peach and Mario.
- In-Series Nickname: In the Latin American Spanish dub, characters refer to him as "Toad el Honguito" (lit. "Toad the Little Mushroom"), a Mythology Gag of how he was named Honguito in the DiC cartoons' Latin American Spanish dubs.
- Incoming Ham: Toad's first interaction with Mario has him screaming at the plumber for his life... and then realizing that he overreacted.
- Innocently Insensitive: Let's just say he makes extremely inappropriate comments to someone who’s just entered a new world and separated from their brother and some of his actions don't really help his case either. After getting hit in the arm by his stick to make sure he isn't dreaming and seeing him screaming that Luigi is going to die to clear a path for them, it's no wonder that Mario gets annoyed by how inconsiderate he is.
- Jump Scare: The first time Mario meets him, he scares him by screaming at him not to touch a blue mushroom when he's reaching out towards it (which he then says is harmless). He later is on the receiving end of this when a Kong answers the door to the Jungle Kingdom quite loudly.
- Keet: He is always full of energy and pretty much always in a good mood.
- Large Ham: Toad is always full on and high energy. It goes with territory.
- Left the Background Music On: During the scene where Mario and Peach are talking under the starry sky, flute music can be heard. The camera zooms out to show that it's being played by Toad.
- The Load: Despite his desire to be a useful ally, he spends most of the movie a Boisterous Weakling who contributes little to the battle at hand. This eventually gets subverted when he smuggles an Ice Flower in Peach's wedding bouquet, allowing her to fight back against Bowser. It's also heavily implied that while he isn't much of a fighter, he's still pretty useful as a cook for Mario and Peach while they venture across the world to convince the Kongs to join them in the fight against Bowser.
- Mushroom Man: True to his game counterpart, the top of his head has wide, dome-shaped "cap" like a mushroom; Mario even refers to him as "Mushroom Man" when they first meet. The newspaper clipping of the Mario Bros. defeating Bowser lists him as "Little Mushroom Man".
- Mutually Unequal Relation: When Toad invites himself on Peach and Mario's quest, he tells the former that he and Mario are best friends, despite only knowing him for a short amount of time. Not only that, but in that time, he's unknowingly exasperated the plumber with his inconsiderate behavior. All of which is why Mario doesn't exactly reciprocate the feelings.Toad: Hey, Mario!
Peach: You know this guy?
Mario: Uh—
Toad: We're best friends!
Mario: (unsure) ...But, are we? - The Napoleon: A friendlier take on the trope. Toad is even shorter than Mario and has a very high-energy disposition that compels him to leap into any scenario regardless of the odds. His vehicle of choice also happens to be a monster truck.
- Nice Guy: Despite how outlandish he is as a person, all of his actions in the film were never out of personal gain, he genuinely wants to help his friends, especially in Mario's case, since he only knew him for a couple of minutes at best, yet he goes above and beyond for him, and the second he meets up with Mario, he refers to him as his best friend, whether Mario agrees or not.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: His smuggling of the Ice Flower into Peach's bouquet isn't shown.
- Primary-Color Champion: He's the bravest and most adventurous of the Toads and his appearance just so happens to include all 3 primary colors.
- Shipper on Deck: After Donkey Kong makes fun of Mario by saying a princess wouldn't go out with him, Toad steps in and defends him by saying a princess would, showing he's rooting for him and Peach. Earlier on in the Fire Flower field, while Peach and Mario share a Held Gaze, Toad sets the mood by playing his flute.
- Stab the Salad: He looks as though he's ready to bludgeon a castle guard with his frying pan, but he's actually setting up a cookout to distract the guards.
- Supreme Chef: Hinted that he was more than capable of making a good meal for the guards to let Mario sneak in.
- Undying Loyalty: He makes a promise about protecting the Princess and keeps it, and is notably the only Toad who's confident enough to do so. Even after she tells him to escape with the others, he still stays by her side and reminds her of his promise. This trope is the reason why she and Mario let him come along on their journey.
- Uniformity Exception: He's the only one of his kind whose vest doesn't match the color of his cap.
- Vehicle-Based Characterization: He chooses a monster truck that compensates for his small size and represents his bravery compared to other Toads when he, Peach, and Mario are about to ride go-karts.
Toad (species)
Toads
"Look at us! We're adorable!"
Yellow Cap Toad voiced by: Jessica DiCiccoForeign VAs
Toad General voiced by: Eric BauzaForeign VAs
Toad Guards voiced by: Foreign VAs
A dwarf humanoid species with mushroom heads, serving as the denizens of the Mushroom Kingdom.
- Black Bead Eyes: All of their eyes are small little dots.
- Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: All of the Toads wear colors that match their mushroom caps, except the main Toad.
- The Guards Must Be Crazy: Twice in a row.
- The guards at the front door of Peach’s castle are easily distracted by Toad whipping up a cookout for them, allowing Mario to sneak in.
- After Mario sneaks in, he gets chased by some Toad guards (though the two who gave initial chase had to do a Double Take after he salutes them back), but they only catch him after Peach judo-flips him to the ground.
- Hobbits: They're a short, peaceful people who enjoy life's pleasuresnote and are averse to fighting and adventures. Therefore, they are utterly helpless against an impending invasion by dark forces unless they are able to secure the aid of more powerful neighbors. Some individuals do show a propensity for bravery when pushed, like the Toad who's a part of the main cast.
- Humans Are Special: The world of the Mushroom Kingdom doesn't seem to have any native humans, and thus humans who arrive there from elsewhere are treated as special. The Toads all took a liking to Peach when she arrived as a baby from parts unknown, even making her their princess, and Mario is looked at with awe as he walks through the crowd of Toads as he makes his way to the castle.
- The Noseless: All of the Toads have no nose, just like their game designs.
- Parental Substitute: The Toads became this to Peach after she entered the Mushroom Kingdom from an unknown homeland as a baby, adopting and raising her as one of them and making her their ruler when she came of age. This is a huge part of why she's so protective of them, and why she instantly caves to Bowser's demands (at least temporarily) when Kamek tortures Toad.
- Perfect Pacifist People: The Toads are implied to be this; aside from the ceremonial guards at the castle, the Mushroom Kingdom appears to have no defenses whatsoever, and their only recourse upon learning of Bowser's imminent threat is to ask the nearby Jungle Kingdom for help. It's suggested that the main reason Peach and Mario are the heroes of the kingdom are because they're the only people capable of doing any sort of fighting at all."Look at us; we're adorable!"
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Part of the reason why they don't think they can stand up to Bowser's armies — they're too cute to be a threat.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Toadsworth does not appear in any capacity in this film, but there is one Canon Foreigner Toad with glasses, a bowtie, and a deep voice who appears to be an important member of Princess Peach's council.
- Theme Naming: Toad’s friend, Chanterelle, is named after a type of mushroom.
- Vocal Dissonance: The blue councillor Toad has a much deeper voice than other members of his species.
- Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: Because of course the film was going to invoke this trope. In this case, a pair of guards initially deny Princess Peach is at the castle Toad brings Mario to for help finding Luigi. This leads Toad to prepare a Delicious Distraction so Mario can sneak in.Mario: Oh, hey. I need to see the princess. It's an emergency.
Blue Guard: What princess?
Yellow Guard: I never heard of any princess.
Blue Guard: Oh wait, I did. Your princess, though, is in another castle.
Yellow Guard: Oh yeah, that's right.
Blue Guard: You should try another castle, maybe. She ain't in this one.
Mushroom Forest
Biddybuds
Biddybuds
Large beetle-like creatures that roam the Mushroom Forest.
- Adaptational Badass: In the games, they're One-Hit-Point Wonders, but in the film, they can get stepped on or tossed around and only seem annoyed by it.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Biddybuds in the games are minions of Bowser, typically sharing the role of The Goomba with... Goombas. The movie, in contrast, shows several Biddybuds walking in the fields and down a street in the Mushroom Kingdom past Mario and numerous Toads without any apparent hostility. They don't even become hostile when jumped on, which is the most basic way to kill them in their origin games.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: They're the size of dogs and resemble ladybugs.
- Non-Malicious Monster: They don't pose a threat to Mario, just idling around the forests barely noticing him. We even see a Toad guiding a group of them through the Mushroom Kingdom at one point, suggesting they can be pets or livestock of some sort.
- Rule of Three: They seem to usually travel in groups of three.
Bramball
Bramball
Denizens of the Mushroom Forest.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: They were enemies in the games as they try to walk over Mario, but the Bramballs in the movie don't try to hurt Mario, and one walks literally over him.
- Out of Focus: They don't do anything in their single appearance beyond establishing the unusual type of fauna in this new world.
